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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Thankful Thursday - Ancestors

Yesterday was my 40th birthday and, if you
believe the Mayan Doomsday folks, tomorrow will be the end of the world as we
know it.

Today seems like as good a time as any to start a genealogy
blog.

My introduction to genealogy came at an early age. My grandmother had been married twice, and
her second husband, my grandfather, had been married multiple times. The children resulting from the various
marriages therefore made an interesting mix of half-siblings, related to each
other through one parent or the other.
My mother, in fact, had thirteen half-brothers and half-sisters. Some of these she knew, others she knew
about, but hadn’t met.

When I was a kid, my mother began documenting her
family. I still have some of her
handwritten notes. I don’t ever recall
hearing the term “genealogy” used, but what my mother was doing definitely fell
under the labels of genealogy and family history. In today’s terms I suppose she would be
considered a name-gatherer. Most of her
notes were based on memory, family stories, and a published genealogy from the
1800s. Very little was fully documented,
but the framework for research was there.
I remember helping her fill out pedigree charts and family group sheets,
and even writing to distant relatives for information when I was about 10 years
old.

Through the process of learning about my mother’s family
with her, I also began to learn bits of local history. The Batchelder family had been in the same
area for several generations. My great-uncle, who raised my mother along with
my grandmother, died at the age of 92 at his home, which was built on a portion
of land that once belonged to the farm where he was born. His father (my great-grandfather) had been
born in town, as well as his grandfather.
My great-uncle’s memories went far back in time. Where visitors to town saw a recreational
park with a pond, he remembered what used to be a village with a sawmill. As a teenager working in the woods with him,
I would hear recollections of his time in the Civilian Conservation Corps in
the 1930s. Through his stories, old
cellar holes became families, and main roads reverted to horse and wagon paths.

As an adult, my experiences with genealogy and history are
some of my fondest memories of growing up.
While I’ve always been a name-collector, in the past few years I’ve
become more serious about my genealogical research, documenting sources,
verifying my mother’s notes, researching my father’s family, and fleshing out
the stories of my ancestor’s lives.
Through my research, my ancestors have become as real to me as my living
family. I enjoy spending time with them
and learning about the world as they saw it.

And so, today, Thankful Thursday, I use my first blog post
to thank my ancestors. They are a part of
me spiritually as much as they are genetically, and I enjoy learning about each
and every one.

Congratulations on your new blog! Happy belated birthday!! My daughter's bday is tomorrow (the 22nd the day after the end of the world) so the world ending's been a big joke in our house this year. We did make her a cake today!Cyn

Just found your blog today--on the other side of the End of the World--thanks to a mention in GeneaBloggers this morning. Best wishes as you continue your blog journaling of your research discoveries. Sounds like you have a fascinating family to pursue. And yes, I totally agree: our ancestors are definitely a part of us, the ones who make us what we are. When we discover more about them, we are discovering more about ourselves.

Hey, I found your blog today and wanted to send a little note. I also have a line of Batchelder's in my family tree. They are a bit further back though from the 1660's and before. Maybe we're genealogy cousins? :) I will be keeping up with your blog to hear more. Best wishes for the new year!

About Me

As a sixth-generation Vermonter living in the same area as my ancestors, I have a great interest in family and local history. This interest has led me further and further into the field of genealogy, which I have pursued as a hobby for the last twenty-five to thirty years. In the past few years I have begun learning more disciplined approaches to the field, and have started revisiting the ancestors that I gathered during my name-collecting days.